AN historic Grade II-listed building in the Black Country has won a £1.9 million facelift.

The cash, from Heritage Lottery Fund Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), English Heritage and Dudley Council, will be spent on Baylies Hall, in Tower Street, Dudley.

It will be used to make repairs and allow the reinstatement of lost architectural details on building, which dates back to 1824.

It is owned and occupied by Aston Auctioneers and Valuers, but was built to accommodate the Baylies Charity School, which first operated from the site in 1732. Coade stone sculptures of two schoolboys, which are located in niches above each of the building’s two porches, will be taken away for repair and will be replaced when building works are complete.

John Millar, Dudley Council’s director of the urban environment, said: “Baylies Hall is a beautiful town centre building that we want to restore and preserve for future generations. There are exciting changes and regeneration scheme planned all across Dudley and this is just one of the many exciting projects we are involved with.”

Chris Aston, of Aston Auctioneers and Valuers, said: “We’re delighted to receive the grant to restore our building, had it not been for the THI programme we would have been forced to look for new premises, because the cost of proper restoration would have been prohibitive.”